By Bill Warnock
Three German soldiers crept through the snow. They had infiltrated the American front line during a counterattack. Major William F. Hancock spotted the trio. The lead man towered over the others. “He must have been six foot four and weighed about 250 or 275 pounds,” Hancock recalled. The huge German clutched a Panzerfaust, which had a warhead the size of a hornet’s nest.
The major shouted to 1st Lt. Roy E. Allen, who stood nearby. The lieutenant leveled his carbine and began shooting at the Panzerfaust man. Allen’s bullets struck the soldier, and he fell after several hits. The man tried to stand up but collapsed. He remained alive and somehow managed to drag himself forward, still grasping the Panzerfaust. Allen kept shooting. The German struggled onward until he finally keeled over and lay motionless. The other two infiltrators raised their hands.
The courage of the hulking German impressed Hancock. “He was one of the bravest fellows I have ever seen. He just wouldn’t stop.” The Americans examined his body and discovered he was still breathing. “We took him to our aid station because I thought he deserved a chance to live even though he was our enemy.”
The Panzerfaust man was just one of many German casualties suffered during a series of failed counterattacks. These abortive assaults withered under the guns of the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, part of the 2nd Infantry Division. The action took place at Wahlerscheid crossroads, and the date was December 16, 1944.
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From a Belgian citizen who wasn’t born until much later after the Battle of the Bulge, I say thank you so much to this Golden Generation of young men who came to save us from the Nazi boot. Once in a while I pay my respects in the city of Bastogne.
Vogel Ip is the name of the Western Command post above the Roer dams South of Aachen by about 20 miles. The site is very impressive with a dozen tank ramps for the Panzers to place on to fire up over the dams towards the West. It was along with the Berschtegarden and the Berlin Wolf’s lair a major command area. After realizing that Allied bombers could strike it early in the war, the place was abandoned. Today it is a large tourist draw and a great place to visit for WWII history.